Egg-testing device.



C. G. REIS.

EGG TESTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.6. 1912 WW J COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM C0 WASNIM'ION, n. C.

UNITED sratras rarnn'r OFFICE.

CARL cams, on LIMA, OHIO, Asst-anon. ro THE- ars nee CANDLER COMPANY, or

' LIMA, OHIO. I

Toall'wii'omit may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL C. REIs, a citizen of'the United States, residing at Lima, in the county of Allen andState of Ohio, have invented Certain new and useful Improvements in Egg-Testing Devices, of

which the following is aspecitication, referhad to the acco-mpanying draw- 'made to accommodate a certain number oft" eggs, and the invention alsohas for its ob ject a device of this character embodying a plurality of trays that are so constructed that they may be. readily superposed one.

upon the other and capable of being removed, as required, whereby each traymay notonly serve its part in the candling oper ation, but also beused as a storage receptacle to hold the eggs in a refrigerator, storage room, or other convenient place to retain the eggs when the t-rayris not in usefor the candling operation.

The invention also has for its object an" apparatus of this character, whereby any number of trays may be used, and whereby extra trays may be in readiness to receive the eggs from the source of supply and candled and the entire tray set aside until needed, and whereby the eggs in the trays may be candled any number of times without disturbing the eggs placed in the tray.

A still further object of the invention is a simple, durable and efficient construction of apparatus of this character, for the purpose named, so arranged that by placing the trays one on top of the other, when full, the package, case or rack is eliminated, the breakage also eliminated, and the eggs ready for instant candling by simply moving the tray into a position where an electric incandescent lamp, candle or other light may be placed or passed beneath it. And the invent-ion also aims to generally improve devices of this class and to render the same more useful and commercially desirable.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully appear as the description subj acent tray,

EGG-TESTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented Jun 39, 1914. Application filed April 6, 1912. Serial No. 688,988.

proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim. For a tull understanding or the invention,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which,

' 'Figure l isa frontelevation of a series of I trays embodying the improvements oi my invent on.

Fig. 2 18 a perspective view. of one of the trays, and, Flg- -is a sectional view or portion ,OfOllQ tray. 1

like parts are re ferred to in the following; description and accompanying drawing,

may be any de sired number and preferably a number more than actually required at anyone operation, so that extra trays may at all times be at hand. Each tray comprises a bottom 2 and end pieces 3 secured to the opposite edges of the bottom and extending in right angular relation thereto. The end pieces are tormedon their upper edges with longitudinally extending tongues 4, and the bottom 2 is grooved in-the. same direction, as indicated at 5, to receive, the tongues of a whereby to steady the stack as the trays are placed one upon the other. The bottom of each tray is formed with a plurality of openings 6 of anydesired numher, said openings being preferably of a size just large enough to receive the eggs without allowing any part of the egg to extend below the lower surface of the tray and to accomplish this the lower ends of the openings are contracted to a diameter smaller than the upper ends of the openings. The end pieces are of a height slightly larger than the eggs, whereby the eggs will be properly housed and all liability of breakage when the trays are set one upon the other, eliminated. It willbe obvious that the lower ends of the openings 6 instead of terminating into a truncated point are circular in form as shown at 6, which when the eggs are tested will allow plenty of light to pass up through the eggs so that in case any of the eggs contained in the openings are bad they may be easily detected. y

In practising the invention, any desired number of the trays 1 may be employed, the same being filled with eggs and placed one upon the other so as to form a stack, the tongues and grooves strengthening the stack and preventing the tray from slip sing sidewise, while the said parts are para 'ned or oiled so as to permit the free withdrawal of the upper tray into position to admit the placing of the light beneath the tray. Thus, after the stack has been formed to the required height, the uppermost tray is drawn forward and the electric light bulb or other light passed underneath the tray so that the light shining upwardly through the eggs will determine which are fresh and which are stale. Each tray may be tested one or more times, as required, and may be laid aside when tested or placed in a refrigerator, cold storage room or the like and the tray thus used to retain the eggs until they are disposed of.

From the foregoing description in con nection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have provided a very simple and eiiicient construction of apparatus for handling and candling eggs, by the use of which all expensive racks and. cases and other complicated accessories are dispensed with, whereby any desired number ofeggs willbe candied, without the necessity of employing specially devised cartons or other packages or stands and whereby the tray itself not only serves the function of a device for holding the eggs while they are being tested, but may also be used to retain the eggs without danger of breakage until it is desired to dispose of them.

While the accompanying drawing illustrates what I believe to be the preferred e1nbodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but that various changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and pro-- portions of the arts without departing from i the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim is 2- In an egg testing device, the combination with a plurality of trays arranged in superposed relation to each other, the bottom of each tray being provided with a plurality of semispherical openings extending partially therethrough to receive and hold the eggs in position, the partially closed lower portions of the openings preventing the eggs from extending below the lower surface of the bottom of: the trays whereby they may be laid flat down without breaking-the eggs carried thereby, said openings communicating directly with circular openings contiguous to the partially closed end to permit the light to pass up through the eggs whereby the bad eggs may be quickly detected, of side walls formed on opposite ends of each of said trays, longitudinally extending tongues formed on the upper edges or said side walls and said side walls being iurther provided in their lower edges with longitudinally disposed grooves to receive said tongues and retain the trays against lateral movement.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiixiny signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CARL C. EELS- V \Vitnesses:

ELLA KEEFE, Geo. F. RUSK.

Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

